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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Antidotes
by Foals


8.5

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 15 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Foals @ Sub Pop Records

The debut full-length album for the Oxford, England-based band.

LABEL:	Sub Pop
RELEASE DATE:	08 April 2008
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Indie

NOTES: Original UK release 24 Mar 2008.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Drowned In Sound

Promise delivered, divided by expectations frenzied, multiplied by still-evident potential for future releases… equals a Pitchfork-style 8.6.

Delusions of Adequacy

They have crafted a terrific debut album and are prime to make a dent in the indie community.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Thanks in part to indie super-producer David Andrew Sitek, they've got a vibrant sonic presence, and they write excellent songs.

Alternative Press

Fantastic. This is the best new band Sub Pop has worked with in years. [June 2008, p.131]

musicOMH.com

They do make thoroughly exciting music that becomes quickly airborne, able to move the listener to a different plane with disarming ease.

Mojo

Antidotes feels like riding a tea-tray down an icy mountainside. [Apr 2008, p.106]

Uncut

This is an exciting debut.

Observer Music Monthly

A perfectly executed debut as might be expected from a band championed in OMM53 for their mathematical precision.

Billboard

By tossing some horns and a variety of dark basslines into the mix, the U.K. quintet creates intense, unique songs that are more than a sum of their influences.

The New York Times

Foals make hard, trebly, uncomfortable, spiky, anxious, uptight, straining-to-be-different music, and for all that, it’s rather good.

All Music Guide

The two guitars pick out cascading notes--never chords--against one another, the bass borrows from both Interpol and Gang of Four, and Philippakis' voice cries out in repetition wonderfully, but it's these occasional horn bursts, the electronic chops and blips, that truly complete the songs, making "Antidotes" not merely a lesson in post-new wave noodling, but evidence of the power and excitement of the genre and music itself.

Almost Cool

While it's true that the sheer precision of their playing is what makes some songs as great as they are, the organic touches of horns and textural washes of electronics help the group move into ground that hasn't been mined as much.

cokemachineglow

Foals are a tight band with hook-laden grooves. Not worth the hype, but definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Dot Music

Antidotes is frequently exhilarating, challenging but immediate, cryptic and catchy, calm then frantic, as intricate, itchy fret-webs are weaved around Afrobeat drums and far-out sonics.

Rolling Stone

Philippakis loves further obscuring cryptic lyrics with his delirious yawps. Mostly that's fine, since sublimely hypnotic arrangements of horn bursts and techno glitch beats generally render meaning unnecessary. But all that yelping about "electric shocks" ("Big Big Love [Fig. 2]") might be better buried in a dub mix.

Spin

They never let math get in the way of a good time. [Apr 2008, p.96]

New Musical Express

Their debut sounds sleek and exhilarating, although Foals seem cautious about completely breaking out of the punk-funk strictures that have confined them so far.

PopMatters

Antidotes might be a touch weird, enough to earn the badge of “musician’s music”, and its cryptic lyricism isn’t typical of a romp. But when Foals’ rhythms bristle and their guitars go colorfully spastic, the art house and dance house become one and the same.

Prefix Magazine

Two forgettable bonus tracks tacked on to Sub Pop’s U.S. edition of Antidotes don’t help on that score. We don’t need any more of what’s already here.

Tiny Mix Tapes

Antidotes is really a pleasurable record that found itself displaced by its worn-out, second-hand clothing

Magnet

You can only imagine the verbal bonbons Gallagher has in store for Oxford’s Foals, whose bristling, high-energy dance shtick borrows heavily from better U.K. bands--and whose members were gracing magazine covers months before the release of this underwhelming debut.

Under The Radar

Antidotes is a great dance-rock record, but Foals still have a few lessons to learn before they reinvent the genre. [Spring 2008, p.76]

The Guardian

'Balloons' and 'Cassius' will prompt widespread jerking movements on indie dancefloors, but it would be nice to hear them let their hearts rule their heads for a change.

Hot Press

These are early days, of course, but some worrying lapses into blustery Editors’ territory aside, Foals prove to be a tricksy, livewire prospect.

Q Magazine

While there is no denying the heady rush of the band in full flow, predictability creeps in over 45 minutes. [Apr 2008, p.113]

Pitchfork

These moments of misplaced weight make Antidotes hard to recommend, but there are good ideas and moments all over the record.

Dusted Magazine

It's hard not to admire the jerky, clean-toned guitar scribbles on 'Cassius,' but most of the rest of the song sounds like a Franz Ferdinand b-side.

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

daniel w. gave it a10:
Absolutely brilliant, such a good beat throughout. Best album of 2008 so far!

DR Su gave it a9:
Not as frenetic as the early EPs but after the 10th it sneaks up on you and you notice the nuances in tracks you thought were duds. (see Electic Bloom, Big Big Love #2 and the ridiculously good Heavy Water).

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
This album is absolutely incredible, although many comparisons have been made to other bands (mostly in ignorance or generalisation), it really isn't the same as anything else out there. i also have to mention how impressive this band is live, it's a totally unique experience, even compared to their record. the debut is not perfect, but i cannot wait to hear more from this band. highly recommended!!!

Dave H. gave it a3:
If the rest of the album is anything like Cassius it's awful. When will people learn that English indie bands are absolute rubbish- theres a new one every week producing the same rubbish!

Sachin P. gave it a9:
Not at all overrated! Yes, Yannis's vocals are slightly yelpish and the lyrics appear to make little sense, but is this not a more organic take on the 'voice-as-instrument' vibe championed by math-rock bands such as Battles? Musically, the album is almost perfect, wavering between tight, insectoid dissonance and atonality, and Klaxons-esque challenging anthemic electro-pop. It's math-pop, if you will, and full of excitement and tension that rarely breaks. The use of stabs of brass is assiduous, so credit where its due to Dave Sitek, but, over all, congratulations to the band for striking out on their own and wanting to make an intentionally emotionally distant album. We don't criticise authors for using such a tone to convey unease, so why are so many reviewers quick to criticise this album for the same crime? In short, I can't think of a British album that will top this all y unlistenable ear: it does succeed in being different from the rest of the crowd, and not in an manner at all.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
This album is absolutley stunning. If you like the intricate and complex instrument work that you here from bands like Battles, but you want to hear real singing alongside it, look no further. Songs like Electric Bloom, Cassius, and Balloons are instantly likable while others such as Olympic Airways, Heavy Water, and Big Big Love (Fig. 2) may take a couple of listens before you realize this could well be one of the top 5 albums of the year. If you get the 2 disc version, you will also get a buch of live songs plus the critically acclaimed previous singles Mathletics and Hummer as well as Big Big Love (Fig. 1). (Download Now: Balloons and Electric Bloom)

Mike F. gave it a9:
Beautifully accomplished for a first album. Up there with Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons, Bloc Party, et al, of this newest Brit invasion. Highly recommended.

Antidotes by Foals

Antidotes
by Foals